Overcoming women’s isolation at work: The effect of organizational structure and practices on female managers’ workplace relationships

Successful career outcomes depend on maintaining positive relationships with and evaluations from supervisors and peers. Recognizing that structure frames behaviors and perceptions, this study explores the impact of organizational structure and practices on the relationships of 598 women in 298 Korean companies using longitudinal data from 2010 to 2016. The results from fixed-effects models show that corporate structure and practices shape female managers’ relationships with supervisors and peers. Gender equality practices improve relationships with both men and women. By contrast, diversity programs have negative effects on female managers’ relationships with female supervisors and peers, and work–life programs show mixed results. However, in firms with female executives and firms that encourage men to use parental leave, diversity programs and work–life practices stimulate positive relationships with both male and female supervisors and peers. This study suggests that organizational contexts, rather than intrinsic gender preferences, shape women’s relationships in the workplace.

Student Discipline Disparities in Virginia

Large racial disparities in student discipline are thought to be directly contributing to disproportionate minority contact in the juvenile justice system. Little has been done to learn about what acts as a predictor of and gives rise to these disparities. The current research aims to add to this conversation by examining the relationship between racial disparities in reported student offenders, measured using risk ratio, and two budget variables: the proportion of budget going towards diversity inclusion and per-pupil expenditures. Specifically, the research asks: How does spending on specific diversity programs and overall spending on students affect racial disparities in student discipline? A meta-analysis was utilized to answer this question. Data on Black, Hispanic, and White male students with no disabilities were collected from 314 public high schools across 126 school districts in Virginia. To find the correlation between racial disparities in reported student offenders and specific diversity programs as well as overall spending on students, a Pearson’s r test for correlation was conducted. Disparities in student discipline were positively correlated with the proportion of budget going toward diversity inclusion, but this correlation was not statistically significant. On the other hand, disparities in student discipline had a statistically significant positive correlation with per-pupil expenditures. This positive correlation indicates that the wealth of a district acts as a predictor of levels of racial disparity in student discipline. This suggests that the demographics of a district or segregation within a district could contribute to or exacerbate the existence of such disparities.

“A Bowl of Vegetables With Someone You Love”: Faith, Health and Workplace Well-Being

Worksite health and well-being initiatives will ideally be integrated with employers’ efforts to address diversity, equity and inclusion issues. Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) include race, class, community health, income and other variables that companies can play a role in ameliorating. As much as spirituality is commonly espoused as a component of a holistic approach to health promotion, making space to discuss faith and health remains an uncommon strategy in the workplace wellness movement. Recognizing the value on investment (VOI) in wellness has eclipsed a return on investment as a driver of an employer’s well-being strategy. This editorial argues that making space for learning about faith and health will intersect in vital ways with anti-racism work, diversity programs and similar efforts to eliminate health inequities, address SDOH and bolster the VOI of worksite well-being initiatives. A fictional dialogue between executives is used to review these issues and related literature.

Evaluation of Diversity Programs in Higher Education Training Contexts in Spain

Measures adopted by educational systems to improve and adapt the educational response of pupils with disability or diversity conditions arising from their personal and social conditions, have enabled them to gain tenure throughout the various stages of education. Educational institutions have been progressively adapting and responding to the educational needs of students who start university, and this fact highlights the lack of inclusive culture in university institutions. The lack of training of university teachers in the educational response to the needs of students with disabilities is evidenced by the high dropout rates of this group and in successive complaints of teachers who do not have the skills or tools to cope with this situation successfully. The review of a set of 75 programs developed by different Spanish universities to meet the needs of these students shows an insufficient institutional and administrative response while reflecting the lack of unity of jointly developed criteria.

The Civil Rights Revolution at Work: What Went Wrong

The civil rights and women's movements led to momentous changes in public policy and corporate practice that have made the United States the global paragon of equal opportunity. Yet diversity in the corporate hierarchy has increased incrementally. Lacking clear guidance from policymakers, personnel experts had devised their own arsenal of diversity programs. Firms implicated their own managers through diversity training and grievance systems and created a paper trail for personnel decisions, but they maintained the deeper structures that perpetuate inequality. Firms that changed systems for recruiting and developing workers, organizing work, and balancing work and life saw diversity increase up the hierarchy, but those firms are all too rare. The courts and federal agencies have found management processes that do not explicitly discriminate to be plausibly unbiased, and they rarely require systemic reforms. Our elaborate corporate diversity programs and public regulatory systems have largely failed to open opportunity, but social science research points to a path forward. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Sociology, Volume 47 is July 2021. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.

Exploring Diversity and Inclusion Leadership in Complex Organizations

Even with affirmative action legislation and diversity programs, organizations struggle to create a diverse and inclusive 21st-century workplace. The purpose of this qualitative, classical Delphi study was to gain consensus among diversity leaders in the federal contractor community about best practices for the successful employment of diversity and inclusion in the workforce, both to meet affirmative action regulations and to incorporate 21st-century social categories, such as veterans, males, females, age, sexual orientation, minorities, disabilities, and LGBTQs. Incorporating a diverse workforce above and beyond the requirements of affirmative action gives companies a competitive advantage over companies that fail to do so.

Escaping the Ellipsis of Diversity: Insider Activists’ Use of Implementation Resources to Influence Organization Policy

Researchers have explored in depth how social movement actors strive to pass laws to change organizations exogenously or to demand that they make commitments or policy changes. But ensuring that organizations implement such commitments or policies is challenging. Insider activists may be influential for implementation processes, and I explore how they can increase that influence. I contend that insider activists influence such processes by offering their organizations implementation resources, such as free and ready-to-use content and model programs that reflect changes the activists want to see. To develop this argument, I explore how, starting in the mid-2000s, LGBT activists developed resources to ensure that diversity policies were increasingly relevant for sexual minorities in France. Many diversity policies at the time expressed commitment to “gender, disability, age . . .” Activists contended that nothing was done for the minorities who were not named—those left in the ellipsis (. . .) of diversity. Using web archives and interviews, I show that LGBT rights activists increased their influence on French organizations by developing implementation resources that corporations could readily use to flesh out their diversity commitments and implement diversity programs to promote the inclusion of LGBT employees. I demonstrate how insider activists used these implementation resources to denounce organizations’ superficial commitments or employees’ homophobic practices, thereby compelling organizations to change.

Training Strategy and its Effect on Employees' Performance in Yemen Mobile Company

The study aimed to explore the application of activities related to training and development in Yemen mobile company and its effectiveness in improving the employee's performance. A final of 200 questioners were received, representing about 50%of the study population. The study found a positive correlation between training strategy and the employees' level of performance. The employees' performance also showed significant improvement due to adopting modern technology and training strategy programs. The results also revealed a statistically significant correlation between the progress in the performance of the employees and the degree of training diversity programs introducing in the company. Furthermore, there was a substantial correlation between applying the strategically designed stage of the training process in this company and improving the performance level. However, the application of the training activities mentioned above was hindered or delayed by factors like the scarcity of qualified trainers, the natural of the company's organizational culture, and the rigidity in the applications that govern this company's training practices. The study showed an acceptable level in adopting and applying for this company's training and development programs. The company should direct some more effort and attention to improving the application of training and development programs based on clear training strategy and divers training programs that serve the company's overall development. These efforts should also seek to rise the methods and technology needed to improve the company's employees' performance.

Measuring and Resolving LGBTQ Disparities in STEM

LGBTQ people have pioneered major scientific advances, but they face challenges in STEM that ultimately waste human talent and hinder scientific progress. Growing evidence suggests that LGBTQ people in STEM are statistically underrepresented, encounter non-supportive environments, and leave STEM at an alarming rate. Potential factors driving LGBTQ disparities in STEM include bias and discrimination, misalignments of occupational interests with STEM stereotypes, and STEM norms of impersonality that isolate LGBTQ people. LGBTQ retention shares common psychological processes with female and racial minority retention such as STEM identification and belonging. The key barrier to better understanding and addressing LGBTQ challenges in STEM is the lack of sexual orientation or gender identity (SO/GI) demographic data on the U.S. STEM workforce. Policy recommendations include (a) adding SO/GI measures to federal STEM-census surveys; (b) broadening agencies’ definition of underrepresented groups to include LGBTQ people; and (c) incorporating LGBTQ identity into accountability systems and diversity programs at STEM institutions.